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The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus ''
Panthera ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family (biology), family Felidae that was named and described by Lorenz Oken in 1816 who placed all the spotted cats in this group. Reginald Innes Pocock revised the classification of this genus in 1916 as co ...
'', a member of the cat family,
Felidae Felidae () is the family of mammals in the order Carnivora colloquially referred to as cats, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a felid (). The term "cat" refers both to felids in general and specifically to the ...
. It occurs in a wide range in
sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, and on the Indian subcontinent to Southeast and East Asia. It is listed as
Vulnerable Vulnerable may refer to: General * Vulnerability * Vulnerability (computing) * Vulnerable adult * Vulnerable species Music Albums * ''Vulnerable'' (Marvin Gaye album), 1997 * ''Vulnerable'' (Tricky album), 2003 * ''Vulnerable'' (The Used album) ...
on the IUCN Red List because leopard populations are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and are declining in large parts of the global range. The leopard is considered locally extinct in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Jordan, Morocco, Togo, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Lebanon,
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
, Kuwait,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, Libya, Tunisia and most likely in North Korea,
Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
,
Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
,
Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...
, Tajikistan, Vietnam and Israel. Contemporary records suggest that the leopard occurs in only 25% of its historical global range. Compared to other wild cats, the leopard has relatively short legs and a long body with a large skull. Its fur is marked with rosettes. It is similar in appearance to the
jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
(''Panthera onca''), but has a smaller, lighter physique, and its rosettes are generally smaller, more densely packed and without central spots. Both leopards and jaguars that are
melanistic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...
are known as
black panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
s. The leopard is distinguished by its well-camouflaged fur, opportunistic hunting behaviour, broad diet, strength, and its ability to adapt to a variety of habitats ranging from
rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
to steppe, including arid and montane areas. It can run at speeds of up to . The earliest known leopard fossils excavated in Europe are estimated 600,000 years old, dating to the late
Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time ...
. Leopard fossils were also found in
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
, Taiwan and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.


Etymology

The English name 'leopard' comes from fro, leupart or frm, liepart, that derives from la, leopardus and grc, λέοπάρδος (''leopardos''). ''Leopardos'' could be a compound of (''leōn''), meaning lion, and (''pardos''), meaning spotted. The word ''λέοπάρδος'' originally referred to a cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus''). 'Panther' is another common name, derived from la, panther and grc, πάνθηρ (''pánthēr''); The generic name ''Panthera'' originates in la, panthera, which refers to a hunting net for catching wild beasts that were used by the Romans in combats. ''Pardus'' is the masculine singular form.


Characteristics

The leopard's fur is generally soft and thick, notably softer on the belly than on the back. Its skin colour varies between individuals from pale yellowish to dark golden with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its belly is whitish and its ringed tail is shorter than its body. Its pupils are round. Leopards living in arid regions are pale cream, yellowish to ochraceous and rufous in colour; those living in forests and mountains are much darker and deep golden. Spots fade toward the white underbelly and the insides and lower parts of the legs. Rosettes are circular in East African leopard populations, and tend to be squarish in Southern African and larger in Asian leopard populations. The fur tends to be grayish in colder climates, and dark golden in rain forest habitats. The pattern of the rosettes is unique in each individual. This pattern is thought to be an adaptation to dense vegetation with patchy shadows, where it serves as camouflage. Its white-tipped tail is about long, white underneath and with spots that form incomplete bands toward the tail's end. The guard hairs protecting the basal hairs are short, in face and head, and increase in length toward the flanks and the belly to about . Juveniles have woolly fur, and appear to be dark-coloured due to the densely arranged spots. Its fur tends to grow longer in colder climates. The leopard's rosettes differ from those of the
jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
(''Panthera onca''), which are darker and with smaller spots inside. The leopard has a
diploid Ploidy () is the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell, and hence the number of possible alleles for autosomal and pseudoautosomal genes. Sets of chromosomes refer to the number of maternal and paternal chromosome copies, respectively ...
chromosome number of 38. The chromosomes include four acrocentric, five metacentric, seven submetacentric and two telocentric pairs.


Size and weight

The leopard is sexually dimorphic with males larger and heavier than females. It is slender and muscular, with relatively short limbs and a broad head. Males stand at the shoulder, while females are tall. The head-and-body length ranges between with a long tail. Sizes vary geographically. Males weigh , and females . Some leopards in North Africa allegedly were as large as Barbary lions (''Panthera leo leo''). In 1913, an Algerian newspaper reported a leopard killed that allegedly measured about in total length. The maximum weight of a wild leopard in Southern Africa was about . It measured . An Indian leopard killed in Himachal Pradesh in 2016 measured with an estimated weight of ; it was perhaps the largest known wild leopard in India. The largest skull of a leopard was recorded in India in 1920 and measured in
basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...
length, in breadth, and weighed . The skull of an African leopard measured in basal length, and in breadth, and weighed .


Variant colouration

Melanistic The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair. Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...
leopards are also called
black panther A black panther is the melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical rosettes are also present. They have been d ...
s. Melanism in leopards is caused by a
recessive allele In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and t ...
and inherited as a recessive trait. Interbreeding in melanistic leopards produces a significantly smaller litter size than is produced by normal pairings. The black leopard is common foremost in tropical and
subtropical moist forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat (ecology), habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally foun ...
s like the equatorial rainforest of the
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
and the tropical rainforest on the slopes of some African mountains such as
Mount Kenya Mount Kenya (Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is locat ...
. Between January 1996 and March 2009, leopards were photographed at 16 sites in the Malay Peninsula in a sampling effort of more than 1,000 camera trap nights. Of the 445 photographs of melanistic leopards, 410 were taken in study sites south of the Kra Isthmus, where the non-melanistic morph was never photographed. These data indicate the near-fixation of the dark allele in the region. The expected time for the fixation of this recessive allele due to genetic drift alone ranged from about 1,100 years to about 100,000 years. Pseudomelanistic leopards have also been reported. In India, nine pale and white leopards were reported between 1905 and 1967. Leopards exhibiting erythrism were recorded between 1990 and 2015 in South Africa's Madikwe Game Reserve and in
Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
. The cause of this
morph Morph may refer to: Biology * Morph (zoology), a visual or behavioral difference between organisms of distinct populations in a species * Muller's morphs, a classification scheme for genetic mutations * "-morph", a suffix commonly used in tax ...
known as a "strawberry leopard" or "pink panther" is not well understood.


Taxonomy

''Felis pardus'' was the
scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
proposed by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The generic name ''
Panthera ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family (biology), family Felidae that was named and described by Lorenz Oken in 1816 who placed all the spotted cats in this group. Reginald Innes Pocock revised the classification of this genus in 1916 as co ...
'' was first used by Lorenz Oken in 1816, who included all the known spotted cats into this group. Oken's classification was not widely accepted, and '' Felis'' or '' Leopardus'' was used as the generic name until the early 20th century. The leopard was designated as the type species of ''Panthera'' by Joel Asaph Allen in 1902. In 1917,
Reginald Innes Pocock Reginald Innes Pocock F.R.S. (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist. Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edward ...
also subordinated the tiger (''P. tigris''),
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
(''P. leo''), and
jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
(''P. onca'') to ''Panthera''.


Subspecies

Following Linnaeus' first description, 27 leopard
subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
were proposed by naturalists between 1794 and 1956. Since 1996, only eight subspecies have been considered valid on the basis of
mitochondrial A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is use ...
analysis. Later analysis revealed a ninth valid subspecies, the Arabian leopard. In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group recognized the following eight subspecies as valid taxa: Results of an analysis of molecular variance and pairwise fixation index of 182 African leopard museum specimens showed that some African leopards exhibit higher genetic differences than Asian leopard subspecies.


Evolution

Results of phylogenetic studies based on nDNA and mtDNA analysis showed that the last common ancestor of the ''Panthera'' and ''Neofelis'' genera is thought to have lived about . ''Neofelis'' diverged about from the ''Panthera''
lineage Lineage may refer to: Science * Lineage (anthropology), a group that can demonstrate its common descent from an apical ancestor or a direct line of descent from an ancestor * Lineage (evolution), a temporal sequence of individuals, populati ...
. The tiger diverged about , followed by the snow leopard about and the leopard about . The leopard is a sister taxon to a
clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
within ''Panthera'', consisting of the lion and the jaguar. Results of a phylogenetic analysis of chemical
secretion 440px Secretion is the movement of material from one point to another, such as a secreted chemical substance from a cell or gland. In contrast, excretion is the removal of certain substances or waste products from a cell or organism. The classical ...
s amongst cats indicated that the leopard is closely related to the lion. The geographic origin of the ''Panthera'' is most likely northern Central Asia. The leopard-lion clade was distributed in the Asian and African
Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...
since at least the early Pliocene. The leopard-lion clade diverged 3.1–1.95 million years ago. Additionally, a 2016 study revealed that the mitochondrial genomes of the leopard, lion and snow leopard are more similar to each other than their nuclear genomes, indicating that their ancestors hybridized with the snow leopard at some point in their evolution. Fossils of leopard ancestors were excavated in
East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...
and South Asia, dating back to the Pleistocene between 2 and . The modern leopard is suggested to have evolved in Africa about and to have radiated across Asia about 0.2 and . Fossil cat teeth collected in Sumatra's Padang Highlands were assigned to the leopard. It has since been hypothesized that it became extirpated on the island due to the
Toba eruption The Youngest Toba eruption was a supervolcano eruption that occurred around 74,000 years ago at the site of present-day Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is one of the Earth's largest known explosive eruptions. The Toba catastrophe theory ho ...
about 75,000 years ago, and due to competition with the Sunda clouded leopard (''Neofelis diardi'') and the dhole (''Cuon alpinus''). In Europe, the leopard occurred at least since the Pleistocene. Leopard-like fossil bones and teeth possibly dating to the Pliocene were excavated in Perrier in France, northeast of London, and in
Valdarno The Valdarno is the valley of the river Arno, although this name does not apply to the entire river basin. Usage of the term generally excludes Casentino and the valleys formed by major tributaries. Some towns in the area: *Rignano sull'Arno *Fi ...
, Italy. Until 1940, similar fossils dating back to the Pleistocene were excavated mostly in
loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
and caves at 40 sites in Europe, including
Furninha Furninha, also known as Dominique's cave, is a natural cave on the southern slope of the Peniche peninsula in Portugal. The cave is situated on the cliffs between the Peniche Fortress and the Cape Carvoeiro. The cave is located furthest west of ...
Cave near
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
,
Genista Caves The Genista Caves are a series of caves located under Windmill Hill in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Fossils of various mammals and human remains were discovered here in the mid-1860s. The name of the caves is a play on words based ...
in
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
, and
Santander Province Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
in northern Spain to several sites across France,
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, Italy, Austria, Germany, in the north up to Derby in England, in the east to
Přerov Přerov (; german: Prerau) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 41,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Bečva River. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the Czech Republic. The historic centre ...
in the Czech Republic and the Baranya in southern Hungary, Leopard fossils dating to the
Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...
were found in Biśnik Cave in south-central Poland. The oldest known leopard fossils excavated in Europe are about 600,000 years old and were found in the Grotte du Vallonnet in France and near
Mauer Mauer is the German word for ''wall''. It may also refer to: Places *Mauer, Vienna, a former village of Lower Austria that has been part of Vienna since 1938 * Mauer bei Amstetten, a village in the municipality of Amstetten, in Lower Austria * Ma ...
in Germany. Four European Pleistocene leopard subspecies were proposed. ''P. p. begoueni'' from the beginning of the
Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time ...
was replaced about by ''P. p. sickenbergi'', which in turn was replaced by ''P. p. antiqua'' around 0.3 million years ago. The most recent, ''P. p. spelaea'', appeared at the beginning of the
Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division of ...
and survived until about 24,000 years ago in several parts of Europe. Leopard fossils dating to the Pleistocene were also excavated in the Japanese archipelago.


Hybrids

In 1953, a male leopard and a lioness were
crossbred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...
in Hanshin Park in
Nishinomiya, Japan 270px, Nishinomiya City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Nishinomiya city center 270px, Hirota Shrine is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 484,368 in 218948 households and a population density of ...
. Their offspring known as a leopon was born in 1959 and 1961, all cubs were spotted and bigger than a juvenile leopard. Attempts to mate a leopon with a tigress were unsuccessful.


Distribution and habitat

The leopard has the largest distribution of all wild cats, occurring widely in Africa, the Caucasus and Asia, although populations are fragmented and declining. It is considered to be extirpated in North Africa. It inhabits foremost savanna and
rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
, and areas where grasslands, woodlands, and riverine forests remain largely undisturbed. In
sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
, it is still numerous and surviving in marginal habitats where other large cats have disappeared. There is considerable potential for human-leopard conflict due to leopards preying on livestock. Leopard populations on the
Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
are small and fragmented. In southeastern Egypt, a leopard killed in 2017 was the first record in this area in 65 years. In western and central Asia, it avoids deserts, areas with long snow cover and proximity to urban centres. In the Indian subcontinent, the leopard is still relatively abundant, with greater numbers than those of other ''Panthera'' species. As of 2020, the leopard population within forested habitats in India's tiger range landscapes was estimated at 12,172 to 13,535 individuals. Surveyed landscapes included elevations below in the Shivalik Hills and
Gangetic plains The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Bangla ...
,
Central India Central India is a loosely defined geographical region of India. There is no clear official definition and various ones may be used. One common definition consists of the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which are included in alm ...
and Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats, the
Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...
basin and hills in Northeast India. Some leopard populations in the country live quite close to human settlements and even in semi-developed areas. Although adaptable to human disturbances, leopards require healthy prey populations and appropriate vegetative cover for hunting for prolonged survival and thus rarely linger in heavily developed areas. Due to the leopard's stealth, people often remain unaware that it lives in nearby areas. In Nepal's
Kanchenjunga Conservation Area Kanchenjunga Conservation Area is a protected area in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal that was established in 1997. It covers in the Taplejung District and comprises two peaks of Kanchenjunga. In the north it adjoins the Qomolangma National Natur ...
, a melanistic leopard was photographed at an elevation of by a camera trap in May 2012. In Sri Lanka, leopards were recorded in Yala National Park and in unprotected forest patches,
tea estate Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
s, grasslands, home gardens, pine and eucalyptus plantations. In Myanmar, leopards were recorded for the first time by camera traps in the hill forests of Myanmar's
Karen State Kayin State ( my, ကရင်ပြည်နယ်, ; kjp, ဖၠုံခါန်ႋကၞင့်, italics=no; ksw, ကညီကီၢ်စဲၣ်, ), also known by the endonyms Kawthoolei and Karen State, is a state of Myanmar. The ca ...
. The Northern Tenasserim Forest Complex in southern Myanmar is considered a leopard stronghold. In Thailand, leopards are present in the Western Forest Complex,
Kaeng Krachan Kaeng Krachan may refer to the following places in Phetchaburi Province, Thailand: * Kaeng Krachan District * Kaeng Krachan Dam * Kaeng Krachan National Park * Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex ( th, กลุ่มป่ ...
- Kui Buri, Khlong Saeng-
Khao Sok Khao Sok National Park ( th, เขาสก, ) is in Surat Thani Province, Thailand. Its area is 461,712 rai ~ , and it includes the Cheow Lan Lake contained by the Ratchaprapha Dam. The park is the largest area of virgin forest in southern ...
protected area complexes and in
Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary 300px, Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary. Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary ( th, เขตรักษาพันธุ์สัตว์ป่าฮาลา-บาลา) is a wildlife sanctuary in Thailand, considered to be one of the richest forests ...
bordering Malaysia. In Peninsular Malaysia, leopards are present in Belum-Temengor, Taman Negara and
Endau-Rompin National Park Endau-Rompin National Park ( Malay: ''Taman Negara Endau-Rompin'') is a protected tropical rainforest in the southernmost prolongation of the Tenasserim Hills, Malaysia. It is south of the state of Pahang and northeast of Johor covering an area of ...
s. In Laos, leopards were recorded in
Nam Et-Phou Louey Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area (NPA) is a protected area in northern Laos, covering in three provinces: Houaphan, Luang Prabang, and Xieng Khouang. The park includes a core area where human access and wildlife harvest is prohibited an ...
National Biodiversity Conservation Area and Nam Kan National Protected Area. In Cambodia, leopards inhabit deciduous
dipterocarp forest Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = fru ...
in Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary and Mondulkiri Protected Forest. In southern China, leopards were recorded only in the Qinling Mountains during surveys in 11 nature reserves between 2002 and 2009. In Java, leopards inhabit dense tropical rainforests and dry deciduous forests at elevations from sea level to . Outside protected areas, leopards were recorded in mixed
agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
land,
secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...
and
production forest Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a sta ...
between 2008 and 2014. In the Russian Far East, it inhabits temperate coniferous forests where winter temperatures reach a low of .


Behaviour and ecology

The leopard is a solitary and
territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
animal. It is typically shy and alert when crossing roadways and encountering oncoming vehicles, but may be emboldened to attack people or other animals when threatened. Adults associate only in the mating season. Females continue to interact with their offspring even after weaning and have been observed sharing kills with their offspring when they can not obtain any prey. They produce a number of vocalizations, including growls, snarls, meows, and purrs. The
roaring A roar is a type of Animal communication#Auditory, animal vocalization that is deep and acoustic resonance, resonating. Many mammals have evolved to produce roars and other roar-like vocals for purposes such as long-distance communication and intim ...
sequence in leopards consists mainly of grunts, also called "sawing", as it resembles the sound of sawing wood. Cubs call their mother with a ''urr-urr'' sound. The whitish spots on the back of its ears are thought to play a role in communication. It has been hypothesized that the white tips of their tails may function as a 'follow-me' signal in
intraspecific Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species. Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organ ...
communication. However, no significant association were found between a conspicuous colour of tail patches and behavioural variables in carnivores. Leopards are active mainly from dusk till dawn and rest for most of the day and for some hours at night in thickets, among rocks or over tree branches. Leopards have been observed walking across their range at night; they may even wander up to if disturbed. In some regions, they are
nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
. In western African forests, they have been observed to be largely diurnal and hunting during twilight, when their prey animals are active; activity patterns vary between seasons. Leopards can climb trees very skillfully, often rest on tree branches and descend from trees headfirst. They can run at over , leap over horizontally, and jump up to vertically.


Social spacing

In
Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...
, most leopards tend to keep apart. Males interact with their partners and cubs at times, and exceptionally this can extend beyond to two generations. Aggressive encounters are rare, typically limited to defending territories from intruders. In a South African reserve, a male was wounded in a male–male territorial battle over a carcass. Males occupy home ranges that often overlap with a few smaller female home ranges, probably as a strategy to enhance access to females. In the
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
, the home range of a female was completely enclosed within a male's. Females live with their cubs in home ranges that overlap extensively, probably due to the association between mothers and their offspring. There may be a few other fluctuating home ranges belonging to young individuals. It is not clear if male home ranges overlap as much as those of females do. Individuals try to drive away intruders of the same sex. A study of leopards in the Namibian farmlands showed that the size of home ranges was not significantly affected by sex, rainfall patterns or season; the higher the prey availability in an area, the greater the leopard population density and the smaller the size of home ranges, but they tend to expand if there is human interference. Sizes of home ranges vary geographically and depending on habitat and availability of prey. In the Serengeti, males have home ranges of and females of ; but males in northeastern Namibia of and females of . They are even larger in arid and montane areas. In Nepal's
Bardia National Park ; , iucn_category = II , photo = Bardiya_02.jpg , photo_caption = , photo_alt= , map_image = , map_caption = Location in Nepal , location = Nepal , map = Nepal , relief = 1 , coordinates = , area_km2 = 968 , established = 1988 , gov ...
, male home ranges of and female ones of are smaller than those generally observed in Africa.


Hunting and diet

The leopard is a carnivore that prefers medium-sized prey with a body mass ranging from . Prey species in this weight range tend to occur in dense habitat and to form small herds. Species that prefer open areas and have well-developed anti-predator strategies are less preferred. More than 100 prey species have been recorded. The most preferred species are ungulates, such as
impala The impala or rooibok (''Aepyceros melampus'') is a medium-sized antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The only extant member of the genus '' Aepyceros'' and tribe Aepycerotini, it was first described to European audiences by Germa ...
(''Aepyceros melampus''),
bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...
(''Tragelaphus scriptus''), common duiker (''Sylvicapra grimmia'') and chital (''Axis axis''). Primates preyed upon include white-eyelid mangabeys (''Cercocebus'' sp.), guenons (''Cercopithecus'' sp.) and gray langurs (''Semnopithecus'' sp.). Leopards also kill smaller carnivores like
black-backed jackal The black-backed jackal (''Lupulella mesomelas),'' also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers. One region includes the southe ...
(''Lupulella mesomelas''),
bat-eared fox The bat-eared fox (''Otocyon megalotis'') is a species of fox found on the African savanna. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Otocyon'' and considered a basal canid species. Fossil records indicate this canid first appeared during th ...
(''Otocyon megalotis''), genet (''Genetta'' sp.) and cheetah. The largest prey killed by a leopard was reportedly a male
eland Eland may refer to: Animals *''Taurotragus'', a genus of antelope ** Common eland of East and Southern Africa ** Giant eland of Central and Western Africa Places * Eland, Wisconsin, United States * An old spelling of Elland, West Yorkshire * Ela ...
weighing . A study in Wolong National Nature Reserve in southern China demonstrated variation in the leopard's diet over time; over the course of seven years, the vegetative cover receded, and leopards opportunistically shifted from primarily consuming tufted deer (''Elaphodus cephalophus'') to pursuing bamboo rats (''Rhizomys sinense'') and other smaller prey. The leopard depends mainly on its acute senses of hearing and vision for hunting. It primarily hunts at night in most areas. In western African forests and Tsavo National Park, they have also been observed hunting by day. They usually hunt on the ground. In the Serengeti, they have been observed to ambush prey by jumping down on it from trees. The animal stalks its prey and tries to approach as closely as possible, typically within of the target, and, finally, pounces on it and kills it by suffocation. It kills small prey with a bite to the back of the neck, but holds larger animals by the throat and strangles them. It caches kills up to apart. It is able to take large prey due to its powerful jaw muscles, and is therefore strong enough to drag carcasses heavier than itself up into trees; an individual was seen to haul a young giraffe weighing nearly up into a tree. It eats small prey immediately, but drags larger carcasses over several hundred metres and caches it safely in trees, bushes or even caves; this behaviour allows the leopard to store its prey away from rivals, and offers it an advantage over them. The way it stores the kill depends on local topography and individual preferences, varying from trees in Kruger National Park to bushes in the plain terrain of the Kalahari. Average daily consumption rates of were estimated for males and of for females. In the southern Kalahari Desert, leopards meet their water requirements by the bodily fluids of prey and
succulent plant In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...
s; they drink water every two to three days and feed infrequently on moisture-rich plants such as
gemsbok cucumber ''Acanthosicyos naudinianus'', known as the Gemsbok cucumber, is a perennial African melon with edible fruits and seeds.Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (2004) Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA Foundation, Wageningen; Backhuys ...
s (''Acanthosicyos naudinianus''), watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') and Kalahari sour grass (''Schmidtia kalahariensis'').


Enemies and competitors

In parts of its global range, the leopard is
sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...
with other large predators such as the tiger (''Panthera tigris''),
lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
(''P. leo''), cheetah,
spotted hyena The spotted hyena (''Crocuta crocuta''), also known as the laughing hyena, is a hyena species, currently classed as the sole extant member of the genus ''Crocuta'', native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is listed as being of least concern by the IUC ...
(''Crocuta crocuta''), striped hyena (''Hyaena hyaena''),
brown hyena The brown hyena (''Parahyaena brunnea''), also called strandwolf, is a species of hyena found in Namibia, Botswana, western and southern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique and South Africa. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Parahyaena''. It ...
(''Parahyaena brunnea''), African wild dog (''Lycaon pictus''), dhole (''Cuon alpinus''), wolf (''Canis lupus'') and up to five
bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...
species. Some of these species steal its kills, kill its cubs and even kill adult leopards. Leopards retreat up a tree in the face of direct aggression, and were observed when killing or preying on smaller competitors such as black-backed jackal, African civet (''Civettictis civetta''), caracal (''Caracal caracal'') and African wildcat (''Felis lybica''). Leopards generally seem to avoid encounters with adult bears, but kill vulnerable bear cubs. In
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, a few recorded vicious fights between leopards and
sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as Vulnerable species, vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss ...
s (''Melursus ursinus'') apparently result in both animals winding up either dead or grievously injured. While interspecies killing of full-grown leopards is generally rare, given the opportunity, both tiger and lion readily kill and consume both young and adult leopards. In the Kalahari Desert, leopards frequently lose kills to brown hyenas, if the leopard is unable to move the kill into a tree. Single brown hyenas have been observed charging at and displacing male leopards from kills. Lions occasionally fetch leopard kills from trees.
Resource partitioning In ecology, niche differentiation (also known as niche segregation, niche separation and niche partitioning) refers to the process by which competing species use the environment differently in a way that helps them to coexist. The competitive excl ...
occurs where leopards share their range with tigers. Leopards tend to take smaller prey, usually less than , where tigers are present. In areas where leopard and tiger are sympatric, coexistence is reportedly not the general rule, with leopards being few where tigers are numerous. Tigers appear to inhabit the deep parts of a forest while leopards are pushed closer to the fringes. In tropical forests, leopards do not always avoid the larger cats by hunting at different times. With relatively abundant prey and differences in the size of prey selected, tigers and leopards seem to successfully coexist without competitive exclusion or interspecies dominance hierarchies that may be more common to the leopard's co-existence with the lion in savanna habitats. Nile crocodiles (''Crocodylus niloticus'') prey on leopards occasionally. One large adult leopard was grabbed and consumed by a large crocodile while attempting to hunt along a bank in
Kruger National Park Kruger National Park is a South African National Park and one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends from north to south and from ea ...
. Mugger crocodiles (''Crocodylus palustris'') reportedly killed an adult leopard in Rajasthan. An adult leopard was recovered from the stomach of a
Burmese python The Burmese python (''Python bivittatus'') is one of the largest species of snakes. It is native to a large area of Southeast Asia and is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Until 2009, it was considered a subspecies of the Indian python ...
(''Python bivittatus''). In Serengeti National Park, troops of 30–40 olive baboons (''Papio anubis'') were observed while mobbing and attacking a female leopard and her cubs.


Reproduction and life cycle

In some areas, leopards mate all year round. In Manchuria and Siberia, they mate during January and February. The female's estrous cycle lasts about 46 days, and she usually is in heat for 6–7 days. The generation length of the leopard is 9.3 years.
Gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...
lasts for 90 to 105 days. Cubs are usually born in a litter of 2–4 cubs. Mortality of cubs is estimated at 41–50% during the first year. Females give birth in a cave, crevice among boulders, hollow tree or thicket. Cubs are born with closed eyes, which open four to nine days after birth. The fur of the young tends to be longer and thicker than that of adults. Their pelage is also more gray in colour with less defined spots. Around three months of age, the young begin to follow the mother on hunts. At one year of age, cubs can probably fend for themselves, but remain with the mother for 18–24 months. The average typical life span of a leopard is 12–17 years. The oldest leopard was a captive female that died at the age of 24 years, 2 months and 13 days.


Conservation issues

The leopard is listed on CITES Appendix I, and trade is restricted to skins and body parts of 2,560 individuals in 11 sub-Saharan countries. The leopard is primarily threatened by
habitat fragmentation Habitat fragmentation describes the emergence of discontinuities (fragmentation) in an organism's preferred environment (habitat), causing population fragmentation and ecosystem decay. Causes of habitat fragmentation include geological processes ...
and conversion of forest to agriculturally used land, which lead to a declining natural prey base, human–wildlife conflict with livestock herders and high leopard mortality rates. It is also threatened by trophy hunting and poaching. Between 2002 and 2012, at least four leopards were estimated to have been poached per week in India for the illegal wildlife trade of its skins and bones. In spring 2013, 37 leopard skins were found during a 7-week long market survey in major Moroccan cities. In 2014, 43 leopard skins were detected during two surveys in Morocco. Vendors admitted to have imported skins from sub-Saharan Africa. Surveys in the Central African Republic's Chinko area revealed that the leopard population decreased from 97 individuals in 2012 to 50 individuals in 2017. In this period, transhumant
pastoralist Pastoralist may refer to: * Pastoralism, raising livestock on natural pastures * Pastoral farming, settled farmers who grow crops to feed their livestock * People who keep or raise sheep, sheep farming Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the r ...
s from the border area with Sudan moved in the area with their livestock. Rangers confiscated large amounts of
poison Poison is a chemical substance that has a detrimental effect to life. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broa ...
in the camps of livestock herders who were accompanied by armed merchants. They engaged in poaching large herbivores, sale of
bushmeat Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are hunted for human consumption, most often referring to the meat of game in Africa. Bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity for inhabitants of humid tropi ...
and trading leopard skins in Am Dafok. In Java, the leopard is threatened by illegal hunting and trade. Between 2011 and 2019, body parts of 51 Javan leopards were seized including six live individuals, 12 skins, 13 skulls, 20 canines and 22 claws.


Human interaction


Cultural significance

Leopards have featured in art, mythology and folklore of many countries. In Greek mythology, it was a symbol of the god
Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
, who was depicted wearing leopard skin and using leopards as means of transportation. In one myth, the god was captured by pirates but two leopards rescued him. During the
Benin Empire The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire ( Bini: ') was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th c ...
, the leopard was commonly represented on engravings and sculptures and was used to symbolise the power of the king or '' oba'', since the leopard was considered the king of the forest. The Ashanti also used the leopard as a symbol of leadership, and only the king was permitted to have a ceremonial leopard stool. Some African cultures considered the leopard to be a smarter, better hunter than the lion and harder to kill. In Rudyard Kipling's "How the Leopard Got His Spots", one of his ''
Just So Stories ''Just So Stories for Little Children'' is a 1902 collection of origin stories by the British author Rudyard Kipling. Considered a classic of children's literature, the book is among Kipling's best known works. Kipling began working on the ...
'', a leopard with no spots in the High Veldt lives with his hunting partner, the Ethiopian. When they set off to the forest, the Ethiopian changed his brown skin, and the leopard painted spots on his skin. A leopard played an important role in the 1938 Hollywood film ''
Bringing Up Baby ''Bringing Up Baby'' is a 1938 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant. It was released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures. The film tells the story of a paleontologist in a numb ...
''. African chiefs, European queens, Hollywood actors and
burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
dancers wore coats made of leopard skins. The leopard is a frequently used in
heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
, most commonly as '' passant''. The heraldic leopard lacks spots and sports a mane, making it visually almost identical to the
heraldic lion The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness and valour, because historically the lion has been regarded as the "king of beasts". The lion also carries Judeo-Christi ...
, and the two are often used interchangeably. Naturalistic leopard-like depictions appear on the coat of arms of Benin, Malawi, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon, the last of which uses a black panther.


Attacks on people

The
Leopard of Rudraprayag The Leopard of Rudraprayag was a male man-eating leopard, reputed to have killed over 125 people. It was eventually killed by hunter and author Jim Corbett. Attacks The first victim of the leopard was from Benji Village, and was killed in 191 ...
killed more than 125 people; the Panar Leopard was thought to have killed more than 400 people. Both were shot by British hunter Jim Corbett. The ''spotted devil of Gummalapur'' killed about 42 people in Karnataka, India.


In captivity

The
Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
s kept leopards in captivity to be slaughtered in
hunts Hunt's is the name of a brand of preserved tomato products owned by Conagra Brands. The company was founded in 1888, in Sebastopol, California, as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co., by Joseph and William Hunt. The brothers relocated to nearby San ...
as well as be used in
executions Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
of criminals. In Benin, leopards were kept and paraded as mascots, totems and sacrifices to deities. Several leopards were kept in a menagerie established by King John of England at the Tower of London in the 13th century; around 1235, three of these animals were given to Henry III by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. In modern times, leopards have been
trained Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...
and
tamed A tame animal is an animal that is relatively tolerant of human presence. Tameness may arise naturally (as in the case, for example, of island tameness) or due to the deliberate, human-directed process of animal training, training an animal again ...
in circuses.


See also

* *
Leopard pattern A leopard pattern is a spotted color pattern, particularly in the hair coat or skin of animals, but can also describe spotting patterns in plants and fabrics. When used as spotting patterns in fabrics, leopard pattern or print makes a great fashi ...
*
List of largest cats This list of largest cats shows the 10 largest extant Felidae species, ordered by maximum reported weight and size of wild individuals on record. The list does not contain cat hybrids, such as the liger or tigon A tigon (), tiglon () (portman ...
* Panther (legendary creature)


References


Further reading

* * * * * * *


External links


IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group: ''Panthera pardus'' in Africa
an
''Panthera pardus'' in Asia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leopard Articles containing video clips Big cats Felids of Africa Felids of Asia Mammals described in 1758 National symbols of Benin National symbols of Malawi National symbols of Somalia National symbols of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Panthera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus